Accounting & Business Advisory Services

Degree: Master of Science
https://www.towson.edu/cbe/departments/accounting/programs/accounting-business-advisory/

Program Director: Charles Russo
Phone: 410-704-5336
Email: [email protected]

The Master of Science in Accounting and Business Advisory Services at Towson University is a joint program with the University of Baltimore. This program is designed to meet two important educational objectives.

First, when combined with a bachelor's degree in accounting, the program allows students to earn the additional units necessary to meet the 150-hour requirement to sit for the Uniform Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam in Maryland and many other states. The CPA exam includes four sections: Auditing & Attestation (AUD), Business Environment and Concepts (BEC), Financial Accounting & Reporting (FAR) and Regulation (REG). Students planning to take the CPA exam will be best served by a program of study, such as our BS in Accounting and this graduate program, that emphasizes the same subject matter as the exam.

Second, by incorporating courses in the related disciplines of financial management and information technology, the program complements and expands the technical skills acquired in an undergraduate accounting education.

Graduates of the M.S. in Accounting and Business Advisory Services program will have the flexibility needed to accelerate their public accounting careers or pursue careers in other areas such as management accounting, internal auditing, accounting for governmental or other nonprofit entities, and management consulting.

NOTE: Since this program is jointly operated with the University of Baltimore, the tuition, fees and grading system for students are the same as at the University of Baltimore. Contact the Student and University Billing Office for more information.

Accelerated Bachelor's-Master's Program 

Requirements to be a CPA in Maryland (and in all but two of the other states) include 150 hours of post-secondary education. To provide a seamless process for Towson students to achieve the 150 hours, a program that combines the Bachelor's degree in Accounting and the Master's degree in Accounting and Business Advisory Services (Accelerated Bachelor's-Masters Accounting Program) is offered.

Admitted accounting majors may apply for the accelerated Bachelor's-Masters Accounting Program in the second term of their junior year and be admitted prior to their senior year. Students can apply to the graduate M.S. in Accounting and Business Services Program in their senior year, but are not officially admitted to the graduate program until the second term of their senior year. Student must complete a graduate application with the Admissions office. In order to be admitted to the Bachelor's-Master's Accounting program, the student must be an admitted undergraduate accounting major with at least one term of residency in the university. The student also must take the GMAT and achieve a minimum score of 400 and have a GPA of at least 3.00.

9 units of graduate-level courses can be counted toward both the undergraduate and graduate programs. A bachelor's degree is awarded after all the bachelor's degree requirements are met, normally in the fourth year. The undergraduate accounting elective is fulfilled by taking any three of the required or elective graduate accounting courses in lieu of the free elective and two Accounting electives. 

1. Students will be able to conduct a comprehensive spreadsheet analysis and offer an interpretation of financial accounting data relating to the performance and standing of a business entity.

2. Students will be able to conduct research and make a recommendation on how different financial reporting theories and practices are applied in resolving issues in financial accounting.

3. Students will be able to use application software to extract, manipulate and summarize accounting and related data from a relational database or comparable data source.

4. Students will be able to design, generate and interpret financial accounting reports enabling effective decisions to be made based on their analyses.

5. Students are able to identify and analyze ethical making recommendations for resolving those issues by applying relevant professional standards of conduct and behavior.